Hi folks - I come humbly seeking help in regards to bringing up a strange
and quite rare Tektronix workstation from the late 80s/early 90s. TEXT WALL
WARNING! For the uninitiated, the XD88 was Tek's final attempt at
penetrating the graphics workstation market before ultimately giving up and
exclusively selling X terminals. They are Motorola 88k-based machines
running UTek V, Tek's inhouse SVR3 port. The tower machines are quite
interesting in that the "compute" and "graphics engine" sides are modular,
technically independent, and can be run standalone or stacked together for
more compute/graphics power depending on the customer's needs. They are
also the only machines I have ever seen that use the IEEE 896 "Futurebus,"
and although I could ramble for much longer, I should get to the point...
The VCF museum in New Jersey has an XD88/30 on permanent loan along with
its accompanying monitor, intact with original disks, but unfortunately no
peripherals. Over the past year or so I've slowly worked to restore it to
functionality and I have finally hit a roadblock I'm not sure I can figure
out alone. We were able to slurp an intact copy of UTek V off the original
hard drive before it failed, and after some power supply maintenance were
able to actually boot the machine off a SCSI emulator. It appears the
hardware itself is fully functional as the machine passes all diagnostics
and we are even able to navigate the filesystem over serial console. But
not having a keyboard means the system will not start X or do anything
graphical, as it assumes it is an XD88/01 headless machine.
We acquired a keyboard -- at moderate expense, they're unfortunately quite
desirable to collectors for some reason -- but quickly came to the
realization we were missing something else as the connectors were
physically incompatible and entirely different pinouts electrically. It
turns out, as mentioned in the manuals (available on the Tek wiki), the /30
(and probably /35) machines specifically use an "MIS" module inline with
the keyboard to combine inputs with the optional dial box. We do not have
this box and the manuals do not elaborate on if the box is "smart"/actually
does anything beyond simply combine pinouts. By beeping both sides out and
making up a little adapter with DuPont wires, we were able to power up the
keyboard and get it receiving data from the computer enough to come out of
a "lock-out" mode and start being able to transmit data of its own...but we
have not yet figured out how to get the computer to recognize its keyboard
and take in data to display on the screen. Without knowing if we're missing
any translating logic in the MIS box, we are at a bit of a brick wall.
I have some very rough pinout scribblings I can provide to try to make this
less confusing, and I haven't totally exhausted adapter combinations to
try...but I am putting out a plead for help! If anyone has an XD88, or
worked with them in any capacity, I'd absolutely love to talk and compare
notes. I threw some images of the system in an Imgur album for those
interested: https://imgur.com/a/YFEbijI Once we're able to get the system
booted and able to wipe potential PII I would be happy to share the disk
image, since I know software for them is basically nonexistent and a
handful of the surviving machines were recovered diskless. In general I am
working on putting together a public page with my notes and research on the
machine to hopefully help anyone who might have one. Any questions and
comments are welcome!
Take care,
CJ R.
More for VCFMW: DECmates, Pro350/380s, rainbows, PDP8, 861-C pwr
controllers as is without power cords.
Boards, boxes, CPUs, systems, etc
I trade for coins!
Please contact me off list.
Thanks, Paul
I'm trying to source a new I/O cable for a Convergent WorkSlate (this one is
grody from degenerating plasticizers). It's 8P8C with a little offset snag
reminiscent of a DEC MMJ, but it's the width of an RJ-11: while an "RJ-45"
Ethernet cable is too wide, a phone handset cord is the right width even though
it obviously doesn't have enough connectors. I messed around with filing down a
junk Ethernet patch cord but that's just making a mess bigger than the icky cable.
I think this is a standard connector, but I'm not sure which?
--
------------------------------------ personal: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/ --
Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser(a)floodgap.com
-- When in doubt, take a pawn. -- Mission: Impossible ("Crack-Up") ------------
I have Norton Utilities on 5.25" floppies. I don't have a drive so I
don't know whether they're readable.
Send me a PDF for a shipping label for 8"x10"x1" 8oz envelope and
they're yours.
Van Snyder
Oscar,
I am building a second PiDP-8/I kit that I bought, unassembled, from a
gentleman in the UK, a couple of years ago.
The circuit board in the kit is labeled Rev 2.2 2016-02-16. You call
this the 2016-18 version.
This version did not come with the LED spacers or the LED cover bracket
and the switches have a much larger front metal piece and have mounting
holes in them.
Would it make sense for me to buy the LED spacers, LED bracket and
possibly the updated PC board for this kit before putting it together?
If so how much should I send you?
What else would I need to upgrade to go with the newest PCB?
If I don't upgrade the PCB, Are there any cuts and jumpers that I should
do before assembling the circuit board?
What is the correct deposit switch inversion for this board?
Will I have any problems running any of the Raspberry Pi versions on
this kit (Zero through 5)?
I will be benchmarking the new build of the PiDP SIMH software on a
bunch of different Pi's so compatibility is an issue.
Thank you,
Mike
P.S. Is there any chance you will be at VCF Midwest this year?
All,
I have been contacted by an individual who will be taking the entire lot off my hands.
Should this deal fall through for some reason, I will re-post my offer.
smp
- - -
Stephen Pereira
Bedford, NH 03110
KB1SXE
Oscar,
I am building a second PiDP-8/I kit that I bought, unassembled, from a
gentleman in the UK, a couple of years ago.
The circuit board in the kit is labeled Rev 2.2 2016-02-16. You call
this the 2016-18 version.
This version did not come with the LED spacers or the LED cover bracket
and the switches have a much larger front metal piece and have mounting
holes in them.
Would it make sense for me to buy the LED spacers, LED bracket and
possibly the updated PC board for this kit before putting it together?
If so how much should I send you?
What else would I need to upgrade to go with the newest PCB?
If I don't upgrade the PCB, Are there any cuts and jumpers that I should
do before assembling the circuit board?
What is the correct deposit switch inversion for this board?
Will I have any problems running any of the Raspberry Pi versions on
this kit (Zero through 5)?
I will be benchmarking the new build of the PiDP SIMH software on a
bunch of different Pi's so compatibility is an issue.
Thank you,
Mike
P.S. Is there any chance you will be at VCF Midwest this year?
Hello all,
I am winnowing down my collection of Vintage Computer stuff to make space for other storage needs, and to make life a little easier on those who I will eventually leave behind.
I have the following stuff available for free to pickup in the Manchester NH area:
- Sun Sparc Classic, with hard disk, CDROM drive, keyboard, some documentation, very large Sun video CRT.
- Power Macintosh 7200, with keyboard
- Power Macintosh 7300, with keyboard
- Osborne I (3 inch screen)
- Osborne II (5 inch screen)
- a couple of original Macintosh powerbook laptops
- Tandy 2800 laptop (286 + 287, EGA LCD screen), plus another for spare parts
- some sort of Toshiba laptop
- Macintosh Powerbook clamshell, with USB, Firewire, & CDROM drive
- boxes of books & parts & cables
I have a few photos of these as currently stored in my basement. All “working when put into storage”. The basement is dry and dehumidified. I cannot vouch for working condition today because of decaying capacitors and internal batteries over the past 15-20 years.
I would greatly appreciate someone to take the entire lot.
I just do not have the energy to go through the eBay Selling & shipping with all this stuff.
If anyone is interested, please email me and we talk and I can provide the few photos and my address for pickup.
smp
- - -
Stephen Pereira
Bedford, NH 03110
KB1SXE
I don't know how many of you have read through the whole Christie's listings, so I figured I'd summarize the computers that are in the Paul Allen auctions.
There are two auctions: https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/firsts-history-computing-paul-g-allen-co… starting Friday, and https://www.christies.com/en/auction/pushing-boundaries-ingenuity-from-the-… on September 10th.
In the first one, I see these computers (ignoring microcomputers and personal machines like Tandy computers):
Lot 102, LGP-30 (and other stuff)
Lot 106, IBM 650
Lot 107, IBM 7094
Lot 111, PDP-5
Lot 112, PDP-10 (KA10)
Lot 115, Straight 8
Lot 116, Linc-8
Lot 117, PDP-7
Lot 118, CDC 6500
Lot 119, Xerox Sigma 9
Lot 122, HP 2100S
Log 125, PDP-10 (KI10)
Lot 135, IBM system 6
Lot 137, DECsystem-2020
Lot 138, LISP machine
Lot 139, Xerox Star
Lot 144, HP 1000
Lot 147, Cray-2
Lot 149, System Concepts SC40
In the second one:
Lot 16, Bendix G-15
Lot 17, CDC 160
Lot 30, Xerox Alto
Lot 32, Cray-1
Some of these seem like things that are not totally out of reach; I wonder if some of you are thinking about bidding.
paul
Found while cleaning and getting ready for VCFMW:
2 either NOS or refurbished paper tape punches for PC04/05. I would say
these are rather uncommon, if not rare.
Documation M200 card reader and a few boxes of cards. Also PDP-8 and 11
interfaces.
Various front panels before they go on ebay.
I will trade for coins at VCF
Please contact me off list.
Thanks, Paul
